He Fills Heaven and Earth

   Over the past several months, 7 to be exact, we have been lifting up Daniel's younger cousin in prayer. She was first admitted into the hospital in May due to severe headaches, where they found some serious things going on. All of this leading into multiple brain surgeries and a lot of nights in the Hospital. She is only 17, this was supposed to be her Senior Year of High School. She had already began looking at Colleges, envisioning her future, thinking of majors, and all of that has been put on hold. There was a point at which they diagnosed her and began treatments, only to leave her back in the Hospital again with the Doctors at a loss.
   As we have been praying for her I have really struggled with God. She is totally in love with God and pursues Him daily, she is a great daughter, and incredible student, and overall just a joy to be around. And I can't understand why God would let this happen to her. Why He would let it last for so long and not give any answers or Hope that it will ever come to an end. I found myself saying, "God where are you? Why aren't you with her?" And this is what He showed me,

"Am I only a God nearby,” declares the LORD, “and not a God far away? 

Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?” 

declares the LORD. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” 

declares the LORD." - Jeremiah 23:23-24

 He is with her. He is all around her. Even though we may not understand why He is letting this happen, we can rest assure knowing that He will always be by her side. I will continue to pray for her and pray for Gods miraculous healing over her body, but until that happens I know she will never be alone. Please join our family in praying for this Beautiful girl. Strength for the fight ahead of her and for Gods hand of restoration on her body.

Grace & Peace






**** Photo Courtesy of wallpapers.pixxp.com

A neck in Irons

"His neck was put in Irons" Psalm 105:18

I read a devotion the other day centered around this verse. It was exactly what I needed. The funny thing is it was for the 27th but the day I was reading was actually the 29th. It's like God wanted me to get my dates mixed up so He could speak so profoundly. Thanks Lord. 

  This is what it said, " Never run from suffering, but bear it silently, patiently, and submissively, with the assurance that it is Gods way of instilling iron into your spiritual life. The world is looking for iron leaders, iron armies, iron tendons, and muscles of steel. But God is looking for iron saints, and since there is no way to impart iron into his peoples moral nature except by letting them suffer, He allows them to suffer." - Streams in the Desert

  And early this morning, I received a phone call with devastating news. My nephews mom who had just had an emergency C-section called to say that her brand new baby boy didn't make it. Jesus called him home. There were health problems along the way and he was born 11 weeks early, but we were really feeling optimistic that he was going to pull through. And now we are left with broken hearts and no words to say to comfort a grieving mother. I turned back to this verse in Psalms and just prayed. Sometimes not saying anything, sometimes saying everything I could think of. But I am realizing that in the midst of this heart break, God is doing something greater. God is preparing a family for something. And my new prayer is that they can find that purpose and run towards it. Lord, give them the goal so they can focus on it.

Running in the Streets

  Last night at the Response, Daniel and I shared from James 5. This is the verse that struck my heart, " My dear friends, if you know people who have wondered off from God's truth, don't write them off. Go after them. Get them back and you will have rescued precious lives from destruction and prevented an epidemic of wandering away from God."

  Whoa. Just soak that in for a minute..... It reminded me of a quote I heard a while ago, " If we actually believed in hell the way The Bible describes it, then we would be running in the streets trying to get people saved." So why is it that I am not running in the streets? I think it is a mixture of things. I'm worried what people will think of me, I don't think they would respond well to a crazy lady yelling at them, and the big one is I don't know if they really want to hear what I have to say. I think I have been letting that last one be my driving force. "I know that they don't want to listen to me, so I won't even try." But in reality, I think that is just a cop out. I think I am too afraid of being rejected or finding myself in a confrontation that I don't try.
   My insecurities are keeping me from reaching out to people. I think it may be time to get over myself and start talking to people. So maybe I wont be running down the street yelling it at people, but if I can at least start a conversation with someone in line that's a start. You never know what interaction could lead into another interaction which could lead into a friendship and then ultimately lead into salvation. So hears my goal: Start talking to strangers. Sounds silly, yes. But is it effective, maybe. I guess I will just have to see.


 - Grace & Peace









**** Photo Courtesy of Bostonbiker.org

Tangled Thread

  While Ava took her afternoon nap today I decided to be productive and finish one of the 900 projects I've started. (ok, maybe there aren't 900- but there are at least 9!) The project I chose to tackle today was a stuffed owl I wanted to make for Ava. I had made one for my niece for her 2nd Birthday back in September and started Ava's at the same time. It was a twin owl, cousin, i love you thing. There is a lot of hand stitching involved in this project. Lots of layers and I use a super thick thread, made for hand stitching. I did the small hand stitching parts first to get them out of the way. When I had finished with that and moved on to the more intensive hand stitching parts I needed a lot more thread. As I began to sew I was getting into a rhythm and then the thread stop short. I turned the owl over and saw a huge knot. I didn't understand how it could knot, but it did. I got it out and continued on, only to get another knot after a few more stitches. This continued to happen every 4-5 stitches. I was getting a little bit irritated. 

  Then I felt like God said" You're getting caught up in your own thread". I sat there for a minute just staring at the needle and thread, slightly shocked that God used sewing as an example and also trying to figure out what that meant. Here's what I arrived upon. Our lives are a long thread. We sew and get into a rhythm of things, and then we let ourselves get upset about something we don't have control over, or we are envious of something we don't have, or wish we were somewhere else. Every time we focus on one of those tings we get a knot in our thread. Causing us to stop and untangle ourselves, hopefully learning the lesson we needed to. But all to often after getting back into our rhythm we are in a knot over the same thing again. 

  I need to focus on the important things and find a good rhythm. Trying every day not to get caught up in another knot. I hope you can find your rhythm.

Find Your Everest

  Life. I'm feeling more and more as if it is just rushing by me. Like I am not making the most of every possible moment. Daniel, Ava, and I went out to breakfast this morning at a tiny little diner in town. One of the reasons we love going there is because of the vibe it has. The walls are covered with pictures and surf boards, little nick-nack things and crazy paint. On the wall next to the table we sat at today was a series of 5 or 6 pictures of this young boy. They were pictures of him climbing mountains. Not just little ones either. Like, Kilimanjaro... Seriously. One of the pictures was twice the size as the rest and looked like it was a magazine cover. When we read the headline Daniel and I were astonished. It was the young boy standing at the top of Mt Everest. Wow. His name is Jordan Romero and He climbed Everest at 13. He is the youngest person to ever climb that mountain. On the picture he wrote a little note to the owner of the diner and at the bottom wrote "Find your Everest".
  Daniel and I started talking about what that meant to us. "Find your Everest". Had we climbed our own Everest? Eventually the topic phased out and we left the diner, but the thought of Jordan's words rang loudly in my mind. I have been searching for something lately. I am not sure what it is or how it is going to come to fruition, but I feel like it is my Everest. It is almost within reach. I am excited to discover the things that God has in store for me and the Mountains He is having me climb right now to get ready for Everest.
   What is your Everest? Have you reached the peak?





**** Photo Courtesy of Facebook.com

Reap What I sew

  "I reap what I sew, I reap what I sew." That's what I heard Daniel saying to himself as we watched Ava push every button on the DVD player for the second time. We were watching A Bug's Life and Ava pushed buttons making the movie go away, as Daniel was sitting back down after fixing the movie she pushed the buttons again. I asked him why he said "I reap what I sew" over and over to himself. He looked at me and said, "It's because I used to be the same way, so I can't really get mad at her for wanting to push those buttons. I was the kid who always touched everything." I laughed a little. It was such a sweet moment for me realizing Daniel's heart to not get upset with her over a silly little thing.
  The thing I realized as soon as Daniel said his explanation to me, was how I instantly thought of the incredible things he sews into Ava all the time. He is kind and loving, always willing to explore with her, patient, and God fearing. Those are the things I see in Ava already. It's crazy that when we see our kid testing us we instantly think it's because of us or something we did. But when our child is incredible, we never think it's because of what we have taught them.
   I guess the real question now is what am I sewing into Ava's life? I think I need to put more focus on intentionally showing her the things that are important to us as a family. Figuring out our core values and making sure we sew them into Ava's spirit everyday.

Climbing up my Curly Slide

   I have been trying to take Ava to the park every day lately. She is such a great kid, I feel like she deserves it. Plus, not having a back yard makes it hard to play outside so by going to the park she can run like a maniac. She loves the slide. It is her absolute favorite thing in the world. She climbs up the stairs all by herself, and then goes down the slide. It's only the little slide, maybe 4 feet long. More recently she has discovered the big curly slide. She can't get up there by herself, and we need two people for that one. Mommy at the top sending her down and Daddy at the bottom to catch her. Since she doesn't get to go down that slide on a regular basis she climbs up on the bottom of it and sits there. Almost as if she is pretending she just came down it.
  A few days ago she saw another girl climbing up the curly slide from the bottom. This blew Ava's little mind. I was watching her as she was watching the little girl. It was like she was studying her every move so that she could replicate them. As soon as the other little girl left Ava ran for the curly slide and started climbing. She would slide back down on her belly after only making it 4 inches up the slide. But she just kept trying. The whole rest of the time we were there was spent trying to get up that darn slide. She was determined. Every time since she tries to climb that slide. She never gets upset that she can't, she just keeps trying.
  It got me thinking about myself. There are things I want to do and if I can't do it the first time I give up. I don't have the perseverance that my 16 month old daughter has, and I need it. After reading my bible today I saw a verse that spoke to my heart. " Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness." James 3:18. I really felt like I need to make that my personal Mission Statement. So I am going to take a tip from my tiny beard. If I don't succeed right away, I will continue to climb. Push through with perseverance and not be discouraged.
  What's the thing you want but you are discouraged by? I pray that you find the perseverance you need to continue trying.